Formal vs Informal

Ms. Shuler
6th Grade English Language Arts
Heyward Gibbes Middle School
 Why is Language Important?
• Communication
• Culture
• Adds knowledge
• Expression
• Can you think of any other reasons?
• How do you speak at home? Around friends
and family?
• Spoken around family and friends
• Does not follow grammatical rules
• Also called informal language
• Relaxed, comfortable

Home Language
 Examples
• “Wanna go to the store?”
• Come here.
• Ay what’s up?
• She ain’t go to work today.
• He off tomorrow so we going to the beach.
• I dunno.
• Share with your neighbor some terms, phrases or
sayings you say outside of school around family
or friends?
 Standard American English
• Follows grammar rules
• Spoken in settings such as school, work,
professional settings, interviews, and/or
meetings with physician, tax preparer, or
managers.
Examples
 Formal or Informal?
• You call your dad at work and his boss answers
the phone.
• You are asking someone out on a date
• You are talking to your parents at the dinner
table
• You are trying to convince the assistant
principal to change the date of the detention
you were given.
 Change to Formal
• Hi
• Sure!
• Will ya?
• Ya gotta do it!
• What do you want?
 It’s Cool!
• You should remember to adapt your language
to the setting you are in at the time.
• What’s the difference?
 Final Thought
• If you talk to a man in a language he
understands, that goes to his head. If you talk
to him in his language, that goes to his heart.
Nelson Mandela